"They have all been decided then," one of the two priests said. "The Masters of this Holy Grail War have all summoned their servants?"

"Yes, so it seems," the other priest said. "That means that as of now, the Holy Grail War has begun.

The first priest, youthful in appearance with a charming face and neat hair, smiled eerily. "Then the blood shall be shed once more, I assume?"

"Do not be so sadistic," the other priest, an older man with a balding head and a bad hunch, scoffed back. "The war is designed so that the Servants shall be the only ones waging war. There should not be any death amongst the magi."

"Yet there still will be regardless."

"A pessimistic viewpoint, Brother Solomon."

"A realistic viewpoint, Brother Fontleroy." The young priest, Solomon, straightened his robe out and stood closer to the older priest. "A good viewpoint for me to have as well. I'm the supervisor for this Holy Grail War, am I not?"

The older man, Fontleroy, nodded. "Yes, that is true. You will be the one primarily watching over this war, much to my chagrin..."

"Then it is my responsibility to deal with any unsavory outcomes," Solomon replied. "Given the list of combatants this game...I expect to be a very busy man these days."

"I expect that you will keep things orderly," Fontleroy told the younger priest. "You have a duty to protect the grail and the Church, and to make sure nothing leaks to the outside world."

"Yes, that is what is most important," Solomon said. "What happens between the masters is irrelevant so long as we keep it from harming anything outside of their own war."

"Keep that in mind," Fontleroy told him, heading towards the door to leave. "And remember this..." He turned towards Solomon from the doorway. "...Everything can change by the end of the day."

Day 1

It is now the day after you have summoned your servant. Begin your day in the city of Fuyuki, Japan; you do not know the other Masters yet, but fate may draw you together...

Appearance: Nestor is a tall man wearing mostly formal attire, almost for no reason other than the fact that he prefers it. He has a straight posture and usually keeps his right hand behind his back. He has long, black hair tied into a pony tail, sharp, piercing, stormy-gray eyes and a sly smile. For his clothes, he wears a dark-blue, double-breasted suit with gold accents, white slacks, and black leather shoes. On his left hand, he wears a white glove mostly for hiding his command seal.Personality: Nestor is a proud gentleman of magic, a calm and proper mage with a highly intelligent mind. He is seen as a man who enjoys the company of people, more so when he can have an intellectual conversation with them. This does not mean that he doesn’t enjoy good humor, however. If you show kindness to him, he will seek to return the favor. On the contrary, he values people he considers friends and never forgets them. The same could be said of his enemies, however. Wrong him in any way and he will personally hunt you down and make you pay.

Nestor sees that there is a time to be serious and a time to be carefree. And often, he is quite relaxed. He is a man who draws effort based on interest; he is more likely to do something if he is excited or curious about it. He dislikes direct confrontation and prefers indirect methods to most of the things he does.

He has no love for his family and distances himself from them as much as possible. He avoids going into much detail with his childhood, for he found it unpleasant. He holds no sentiment for the past and instead looks at the present, which is what matters to him.

Backstory: Nestor was a member of the Kleus family, a family dedicated to the study of Alchemy. He was the first son of the family, his younger brother Hector born seven years after him. Being the first child much was expected of him as he grew up. Nestor’s parents didn’t treat him as their child, but rather as something that would bring them great honor among other mage families. In essence, he was simply a tool for their achievements and desires. This alienated him from his family at an early age. As a child, Nestor showed great promise, though he seemed to be more interested in other Magecraft rather than Alchemy. He was indifferent to his family’s goals, studying only what would be useful to him. Once he had acquired the skills he wanted, he stopped Alchemy altogether, much to the anger of his parents, who were masters of the craft. They wanted him to become a great alchemist that other families would envy and admire, one that would bring their family great glory. Nestor refused such a future, calling it silly and uninteresting. Enraged, he was immediately banished from the household, disowned by his own family. After this, Nestor’s parents turned to his younger brother Hector, who was more than eager to prove himself to them.

Done with his family and wanting nothing to do with them, Nestor sought to learn Elemental Magecraft, for it was much more enjoyable than what his parents forced onto him. He mastered the Wind Element to the point where he was capable of Lightning Magic. As of now, he continues his research into the manipulation of fire.

Despite not being formally recognized as one, he sees himself as a researcher, always curious in things that interest him and seeing what outcome can result from his studies. However, he has never specifically focused on any matter since the beginning, for he only does so based on interest. As long as what he does interests him, he shall pursue it until he has satisfied himself.

Other: Nestor prefers to be called “Claus” rather than “Kleus”, for the later reminds him too much of his family that had shunned him.

Nestor actually has some experience as a fencer, something he uses in conjunction with his Elemental Magic in the extremely rare occasion he ever gets into fights. He took it up as a form of self-defense should he wish to conceal his status as a mage… despite him requiring a suitable substitute for a weapon if he wants to utilize it.

He enjoys a good drink, not exactly suiting of him, but he does it in moderation.

He is left-handed.

Motivation: He has no particular wish for the Grail, though he is quite interested in knowing its secrets. How does it grant wishes? Is this something any mage can eventually attain through great effort? But who knows? Perhaps he will desire something from the Grail as he participates in the war.

SERVANTClass: SaberGender/Sex: MaleAge: 39

Appearance: Saber is quite the handsome man with chiseled features, despite being past his prime. He has a sturdy, muscled build, but not to the point where he’s oversized. He stands tall and proud with a confident smile. He has messy, curly hair of medium length and a short, full beard. He has black eyes that burn with a fiery pride. In armor, Saber looks very much like a Greek Commander. He wears a muscled cuirass along with greaves, bracers and shoulder guards fashioned from a dark-colored bronze. Underneath his armor is a white, Greek chiton. A scabbard for his shortsword hangs from his hips and his large, round shield (known as a hoplon) is strapped to his forearm. Wrapped around his shoulders is a blood red cloak that signifies his status as an important military figure. The only thing that would complete the image is a helmet, which is something he lacks.

Saber’s sword is a Greek shortsword known as a Xiphos. It is a double-edged sword deadly in close-combat. What makes this sword unique however, is that it is split down the middle, almost as if the sword were made of two curved swords combined into one. At the top of the crossguard, in the middle of the two blades, is a burning flame.

Personality: Saber is your typical jovial man who holds much pride. He sees himself as a great warrior and isn’t afraid to boast about it. He is a man who is on an eternal quest for glory, something he revels in. If he were given the choice between a long, boring life or a short one full of glory, he would gladly choose the latter without second thought. But don’t make any mistake, though Saber may boast his strength, he does not underestimate his enemies. He respects those with a sense of honor and sees them as worthy allies or opponents.

What makes Saber such a valuable warrior is his cunning mind. He believes that a strategic approach is much better than a reckless one. He is also charismatic, able to inspire others to action, a trait that made him a great leader during his time. When things start to get down, you can count on him to brighten the mood with his positive attitude.

Other: Saber loves drinking, especially after a hard day’s work. He is also a lady’s man, despite already having a wife. He is fascinated by the methods of travel mankind has developed since his time, making him wonder how such creations would have fared back then in his life.

Motivation: Saber wishes to obtain the Grail in order to achieve glory. A legendary item many have sought but few have actually found? There is much glory ad praise to be had in accomplishing such a feat. In fact, he agrees to fight this whole war just for the sake of his pride as a warrior and the glory he will get by defeating opponents that may as well be his equal. After which, he wishes to return to his home once again.

Spoiler : Sleuth - Lancer :

Username: SS. SleuthMAGE APPName: Mikal KitaharaGender/Sex: FemaleAge: 15Nationality: Japanese (sleuth apping as a Japanese person IN JAPAN?)Appearance: Reference Sheet for BothPersonality: Mikal is a studious young girl who loves science and biology, particularly marine biology. She takes great joy in gaining knowledge, and in proving her intelligence. She's a brainy girl, a quick-learner, and though she can be a tad smug without really realizing it, she is very down-to-earth with her hobbies and desires. Like many teenagers she loves hanging out, chatting with friends, and playing video games, though unlike most teenagers, she has a dedicated chart and schedule for when and how she does these events. At her best, this makes Mikal a very organized and efficient worker who can make the most of her day, and at worst it leaves her an obsessive and nervous wreck that can't bring herself to break her own plans.

Mikal's two passions are marine biology and planning. Mikal loves to have plans, and is a bit of a control freak. I kid; she's a HUGE control freak. Though mostly oblivious to it, her controlling tendencies tend to put others off, and she tends to get extremely anxious or panicky when things don't go according to her plan. Accidents happen, of course, but huge derailments to her careful calculations tend to make her... upset, to say the least. She tends to over-think things and be poor at improvising, preferring to have a plan of action before going through with anything.

Though she's mature for her age and quick to take responsibility, deep down she's a bit of a wreck, and clings to her plans for security and stability. Her worldview has only grown more horribly shaken by her recent entrance into the Holy Grail War, and her desperation and paranoia tend to cloud her judgement in intense situations. Under normal circumstances she's fairly sociable and can adapt to situations with ease, appearing absolutely normal (except for looking and dressing like an anime character) and her eccentricities only really show under stress. When all is according to plan, Mikal is well-adjusted and a model teenager. When things fall apart... So does she.

Backstory: Born to a Japanese father and Russian mother, Mikal grew up in Japan, though she moved frequently and rarely had any time to settle down, so she wound up spending a lot of time online to keep in touch with her friends from different areas. Mikal came to putting together her life in a very organized and calculated manner to account for all the chaos in her home life, and soon became a star pupil with aspirations to become a successful Marine Biologist. As she went on with her normal life just as planned, one day her parents decided to drop the bombshell on her that, guess what, THEY'RE MAGES! And she's a mage too! Whaaaaat?

Her parents revealed to her that they were once great mages, and had decided to enter in the Holy Grail tournament, but were eventually unable to join as they'd forgotten when it was happening and didn't get any Servant. So they decided that for the next one, they would have a child, raise them and train them from birth to be the most powerful and effective mage possible in order to win the war... Then forgot and got caught up being parents, leaving Mikal with a rather normal life.

So in spite of all that, they decided to throw their daughter into the fray anyways, figuring that she might as well have a shot at it, and they will keep watch over her in case things get too intense. Mikal was, naturally, horrified by this turn of events but really didn't have any power to change anything at this point. With her parent's stash of old magical tools and books for her to use, and only a few days until the tournament starts, Mikal will have to study like she's never studied before in order to survive.

Magical Skills: Having only a limited time to take a crash course in Magic, Mikal is still very much a learner, albeit a quick one. Her years of memorizing useless facts and knowledge has finally come to use, allowing her to get a quick grasp on the basics of magic, enough so that she can at least defend herself.

So far, she's equipped herself with three tools: Her mother's old shashka sword, an old grimoire titled "The Samurai Poems", and a bag of sand from the beach. Her parents also prepared for her a great and powerful weapon guaranteed to grant her victory in battle... Buuut never finished it. It's probably lying about somewhere. While she's not too skilled with the sword, she knows a few things about fencing and primarily uses the enchanted blade to channel magic, making it work sort of like a wand or staff for her. The grimoire contains a bunch of olden spells that her parents threw together, ranging from simple, such as the Water Attack, to the complex, such as the Miasma of Paradoxes, to the downright useless, such as the Sock Repair spell. It essentially functions like the Journal in Gravity Falls, providing Mikal with insight into the world of magic. Overall Mikal's abilities are rather limited, but with time she may grow to be a formidable mage... Maybe. It's not really in the plan.

Other: yes, she still has the fish socks. they will live. She also has a New Zealand accent. totally. (i am kidding that was a joke.)Motivation: Live. She knows that in spite of not really wanting the Grail herself, others will stop at nothing to take her out, and she's become paranoid to the point that she'll strike first if she thinks it'll save her hide. She mostly just wants her life to go back to normal so she can keep planning everything out.

SERVANT APPClass: LancerGender/Sex: Male for both.Age: 26Appearance: A handsome young man with tanned skin and a lean, muscular physique, with the body of a warrior and an attractive face. He doesn't weight much, but it's clear that he's all muscle from his build, and he fittingly has the body of a swimmer. He has long black hair tied back in a ponytail, with a few strands sticking out here and there. His frequent dips into the ocean tend to give him a bit of a bishie sparkle whenever he emerges. There is something on his back that he prefers others not to see.

In his civilian form, he wears a tacky aloha shirt with a hibiscus flowers pattern, and a pair of jeans with flip-flops. Rather conspicuous attire considering Japan is not Hawaii, but

His battle attire is akin to a surfer's wetsuit, primarily black and blue with white accents, and a with a cape wrapped around his upper body that he throws off during battles, for no reason other than it looks really cool.

Personality: Much like an obscenely rich kid who never really got put in his place, Lancer is a bit of a spoiled brat, in the sense that he is highly gifted with good looks, formidable powers, and the blessings of being a shark-man, yet never really got the whole "With Great Power" speech. Unlike any kind of superhero, Lancer revels in abusing his powers, wrecking stuff in epic battles, and generally being the biggest badass he can be. His superhuman abilities have only blown his ego to near-Gilgamesh levels (though not quite that high) and it's fair to say he's usually only got one thing on his mind: himself. He's selfish, childish, violent, and a sarcastic motherflipper, though you'd never know that at first glance. On top of that, a lifetime of hiding has made Lancer adept at hiding his true nature, though his insatiable bloodlust and planet-sized ego tend to blow his cover after a while. He has a rocky relationship with humans, and hates them just as much as they hate him. Generally, the life is a joyride for the shark-man, and humans are the speed-bumps. While not truly malicious, Lancer's general immaturity and thoughtlessness make him a pain (and threat) to those around him.

Other:His favorite anime is "Free! Iwatobi Swimming Club", and secretly desires to be an Olympic swimmer. He actually has a it of agricultural knowledge, and loves flowers, notably tropical ones. Lancer is actually very spiritual, often taking time to admire nature and respect other gods, even ones outside his own pantheon. He takes care to show respect and humility inside holy places such as a church or graveyard, and it's probably one of the few places he's willing to control himself and not be a huge jerk.

Spoiler : Blackrune - Rider :

Username: Blackrune

MAGE APPName: Emily SinnettGender/Sex: FemaleAge: 22Nationality: EnglandAppearance: Shoulder-length deep-magenta-colored hair. Her eye color is red.Wears a grayish-black suit - miniskirt combination with a line of 6 silver buttons.Also has a belt with metallic silver borders around her waist (despite technically not needing it because what she's wearing is a single piece of clothing)The sleeves of this outfit are rather wide compared to what you'd expect from a suit. They're almost more like a robe. There's also some silvery lines on them.She's wearing light grey fingerless gloves.Her legs are mostly covered by thighhighs in the smae color as her suit.Finally, a black cape, held together by a button in front of her neck.It's pretty magician-like.

Personality: Emily is both a reasonable and violent person.She is, at her core, a rather righteous individual and does not approve of any immoral methods.She is however fine with a little bit of vandalism and generally approves of going against the rules. It can be unclear what she will tolerate and what crosses the line for her there, and may even depend on her mood. All of this is because she is obsessed with independence.She herself tends to always look for excitement, but knows to be serious when the situation calls for it. Has a rather morbid sense of humor. She has a rather glorified idea of the Holy Grail War and tries to fight with elegance.She is generally kind and will at least hear anyone out before she decides whether to beat them up or not.Has a short temper when being made fun of, unless she can come up with a good comeback quickly enough.As she has never killed someone, she may be a little hesitant to do so even though she has mentally resolved herself.

Backstory: Born into a magus family, Emily has always been taught to one day succeed her father.Starting aorund the age of 12, this has always led to conflicts of interests as she was deprived of doing what she wanted.While this feeling eventually died down again, there'd always been lingering regrets in her heart. Her father had been strict rather than loving,so overall she does not consider her childhood a happy one.Still, she had no power to oppose him, and so continued studying. Once she was admitted into studying at a prestigious academy near the clock tower,her interest in combat magecraft showed, quite possibly a result of her feeling of powerlessness.She was very much interested in temporarily becoming an Enforcer, despite that profession being poorly regarded in general.It would never come to this, however, as the call of the grail interrupted her. The command seal spontaneously appeared on her hand one day.Once her father learned of this, he appeared incredibly proud of her, which confused her greatly.She felt like she had again been forced to do what others wanted her to do, but had no way to go against it. The idea of a wish appealed to her,and while her father obviously wanted her to use the grail to reach the root, she secretly began thinking of other things to wish for.Greatly prepared and equipped with one of her family heirlooms, she is now ready for battle.Other: ...Nah I'll make up the rest as we go.

SERVANT APPClass: RiderGender/Sex: FemaleAge: 17Appearance: Casual BattleLong red hair.Very short. Certainly still looks like a young kid.Black eyes with a rather indifferent gaze by default.Non-Combat:Wears a white tunic with several black lines going from top to bottom. The black lines zig-zag back and forth, but with 90° corners. On the end of each of her sleeve is a black circle. (gee, decorations are hard to describe. If you really want to know what I mean I'll make you a sketch)The whole thing has a red ribbon just below her neck. Wears no footwear whatsoever.

(ofc depending on how things play out she may acquire another more modern outfit)

Combat:In combat, a golden chainmail materializes underneath her clothes, but it also extends out of her tunic to cover the legs, forming somewhat of a golden skirt.

Personality: Rider talks in a very serious voice most of the time. She is very analyzing, making sure she understands the situation before she acts.Her general approach to battles is very unorthodox for the Rider class. Rather than just fighting it out directly, she will try to convince others to team up with her.She will most likely try to avoid a straightforward battle until the conditions are favorable, possibly by retreating to lure her opponent into a trap.Outside of battle, you could call her a very dreamy person, not one you'd expect to have a good understanding of what's going on. She has no qualms about sitting down on the ground wherever, which could be perceived as weird. Once she has set her mind on something, she can be VERY stubborn until she gets it.

Spoiler : Mono - Archer :

Username: Mono the Meerp

MAGE APPName: Chiyo Shōtaino (Western order) Gender/Sex: FemaleAge: 17Nationality: Japanese Appearance: Personality: Used to be a nice girl who was spoonfed all the time by the parents.Chiyo also cannot stand several fruits, candies, drinks etc., meaning that she is very picky.Other: Chocolate with wine is something she likes to sate herself with.

SERVANT APPClass: ArcherGender/Sex: MaleAge: 27-ishAppearance: The headband goes around his head and the feather is from one of the sun birds he shot. The moon symbol is under his hair. Also, the mask is on the other side of the head.Personality: A loyal and strong hero. He's fierce and sometimes lets a rather sharp tongue get the better of him.He dearly misses his beloved wife, and therefore concentrates on honing his skill EVEN further whenever possible to win the war.Other: He is very fond of peaches.

Spoiler : gotMLK7 - Caster :

Username: gotMLK7

MAGE APPName: Yun Shi HuoGender/Sex: MaleAge: 22Nationality: ChineseAppearance: Stands at 5 foot 8, rather slim. Generally has a pleasant expression on his face. OCcassionally wears a bowler hat as well.Personality: Yun Shi Huo does his best to be a people person. He's very social and likes to talk things out with people. When an argument breaks out, Yun is generally the first that will try to settle it. He's not exactly serious and he's not exactly a jokester, but he tries to be pleasant and is generally a high-spirited guy. He's casual around others despite his extra care spent on looking good (which he considers important). While he takes the Holy Grail War very seriously, he doesn't seem to believe that he can't fight with the other Masters on good terms, and he wants to try and approach things civilly. He has this kind of approach to many aspects of his life and always wants to be the guy that the others can look to for a good talk.Backstory: Yun Shi Huo was born and raised in China, moving to Japan to participate in the Holy Grail War. He was raised in a family of mages that have been training their children every generation to some day participate in the Holy Grail War, insisting that they will win should they get in. Yun was the first in his family lineage that ever managed to successfully enter the war, summoning a Caster servant. He now has an apartment in Japan and works part-time at a bar as a bartender to help pay his rent there while he fights in the tournament.Other: He is very self-conscious regarding his appearance. He doesn't drink much despite working at a bar, since he's kind of a lightweight as far as alcohol goes.

SERVANT APPClass: CasterGender/Sex: FemaleAge: 30sAppearance: Notably youthful-looking despite her age. Stands at 5 foot 7. The ornament in her hair should look more like a cross. Wears a casual red coat over a slim black dress and red high-heels in her casual outfits.Personality: Caster is strict and confident. She is very controlling, wanting things to go her way, and she won't hesitate to do what she must to get what she wants. In stark contrast to her Master, Caster is intimidating and significantly less social. She is very stubborn in her personal beliefs, and is not one to be dissuaded of them. She is easily prone to jealousy and anger. Those who disagree with her are ones that are often on her bad side. She is incredibly in touch with her spiritual side. She speaks in a refined manner and is very proper about how she goes about things. She is shockingly kind to younger people and children.Other: Has an English accent.

Spoiler : Trybien - Assassin :

Username: Trybien

MAGE APP

Name: Dante Jeremiah

Gender/Sex: Male

Age: 19

Nationality: THE US OF A!!!

Appearance: Dante Jeremiah is what one may call a very effeminate man. He has long, pony tailed, black hair that rides down his right shoulder. He wears purple lipstick and purple eye shadow. He has naturally long eyelashes and red eyes. Dante wears a lot of foundation making his skin seem pale. Dante's apparel consists of a tight white t-shirt and woman jeans. He has two chain sashes crossing at his torso. On his right ear he has a skull earring and on his left he has a cross earring.

Personallity: Dante comes off as upbeat and slightly psychotic usually spouting how he will bring great change through the holy grail war and how all those who have been ridiculed will and hurt will finally be free once he wins. Around others he will act especially feminine and may even hit on both male and females (including masters and servants). In truth he is not that caring. Behind this guise of psychotic justice, Dante is cold and calculated and only wishes to bring pain to those who brought pain to him in the past. He will stop at nothing to achieve his goals and will enact the perceived best strategy if it benefits him.

Backstory: Involved in a cult known as the "True Believers".Magical Skills: Dante knows medium healing magic.

SERVANT APPClass: AssassinGender/Sex: MaleAge: 28Appearance: Assassin is a slender knight wearing thin chain mail and no helmet. He has short brown hair and a scar riding down the right side of his face and his eyes are blue. He wears a chest plate with a bear design to symbolize his family.Powers, Items and Abilities: Assassin carries a mid length sword and mid sized shield with him.

Spoiler : Topaz - Berserker :

Topaz wrote:Username: Topaz

MAGE APPName: Jun IshanoGender/Sex: MaleAge: 26Nationality: JapaneseAppearance: Not pictured: White loafers.Personality: To most people, Jun would appear as a well-mannered young man. However, he only maintains that personality to keep his work connections. In reality, he's sadistic and egotistical. Jun is very well educated and is entirely professional when doing his job, and this cold atmosphere most people feel when around him during work is almost as creepy as when he smiles.Backstory: Jun's background is fairly standard for somebody raised in a well-off family. His father is a respected doctor who owns his own hospital, and Jun was brought up to carry on the torch. After completing his studies at Tokyo University, he became a nurse at his father's hospital, and eventually progressed into the position of a surgeon. With his father growing old and frail, Jun is now looking to take over the hospital in its entirety, which he is very willing to do.Other: Uh... He likes poetry?

SERVANT APPClass: BerserkerGender/Sex: FemaleAge: 65Appearance: Looks younger than her age for reasons.Personality: Berserker seeks the thrill of the fight. Her only desire in this war is to enjoy battling the other servants, even if she has to follow the orders of her master. While she may seem like a raging demon in battle, Berserker is in fact quite wise and intelligent. Her regression may have made her act more like she appears, rather than how old she is, but she still retains all the knowledge of her lifetime.Other: Also likes poetry.Motivation: Berserker has no real desire to win the holy grail, only to fight great battles and relive the thrill of war.

My name is Mikal Kitahara, known to my online friends as AkulaSamurai27, and I hereby dictate my last will and testament. While I had prior completed my yearly will and testament along with parting words on my previous birthday, recent events in my life warrant an early update due to the increasingly likely chance I find myself in mortal peril. I cannot explain the exact nature of my distress, and I myself struggle to fully comprehend it. But please know that if I am found dead in some horrifically grotesque manner, or if I vanish completely due to my entire atomic structure having been disintegrated, I would like the reader to know that I was vehemently opposed and helpless as to the circumstances that led to my premature demise. My only regret is that I did not account for the fact that the universe is apparently f*cking insane.

"Human!" A voice suddenly broke out through the clicking of keys in the dark room. The girl at the computer froze, her finger twitching over the keys. Slowly, the blue-haired girl turned in her chair, adjusting her red framed glasses as she looked in dismay at the dark-haired young man holding a now-empty bucket that had previously house Mikal's stash of Halloween candy. The traces of chocolate stuck in his stubble, along with the alarmingly large pile of wrappers on her bedroom floor indicated that the missing candy would not be returning anytime soon. The girl cringed in terror at the disgusting trail of filth this horrific and tackily-dressed monster had already brought upon her otherwise perfectly tidy room, and was about to plant her head firmly into her keyboard when said man shoved the empty bucket into her face.

"Get me more." He said simply, licking some leftover sugar from his fingertips. "I'll need at least three of those before the night is over."

The girl quickly threw the bucket onto the ground as she leapt out of her chair (then stopped to quickly set the bucket upright neatly) and quickly pointed an accusatory finger at her new houseguest. "You ate it ALL!? How in the-- Why!? That was supposed to last me until next October! I can't even fathom what that amount of sugar DOES to a human being!"

"I am no human!" The man snapped, his golden eyes lighting up with fury, as he stormed forward to meet the girl's glare. "And you will not treat me as such. You may be my Master, but I am in charge. This is MY war. Your only role is to stay out of the way, stay alive, and keep me fed."

"No no no no no!" Mikal groaned, tearing at her hair, unfazed by the man's anger. "You listen here, Blader or Lancer or whatever you're called! There is an order to things around here! A plan! You can't just waltz into our house and raid our fridge, take up our space, and ruin my carefully planned 365 day sugar calendar!! If we're doing this war thing, then we do it in a concise and orderly fashion, proceeding logically and intelligently!"

The girl folded her arms, then quickly turned back to her computer. "I just need time to construct a plan to survive and make the necessary preparations, and then we can-- GYAH!"

"Listen here, human." The Lancer said, hoisting the girl by the neck, his candy-coated breath on her face, "All I need is for you to be alive in order to win this. There isn't anything stopping me from snapping your bones and leaving you comatose for the rest of your short, miserable, and insignificant mortal life. The only reason I am letting you move is so that you can acquire me more food while I prepare for battle. Keep me fed, human. You would not like me when I get hungry."

With that, Lancer quickly swung his arm and dropped the girl flat onto her bed, ruining the perfectly pressed sheets and scattering her abundance of perfectly-arranged shark plushies. The girl gritted her teeth as she rose again, gasping for air, while the Lancer was already sitting at her computer, rapidly typing.

"...You..." Mikal groaned, rubbing her neck where she'd been grabbed. Okay, so maybe fighting with the heroic magical spirit meant to fight on her side wasn't exactly working out for her. But what was she to do? Ever since Mother and Father had broken the news to her and summoned this hurricane of chaos and bad breath into their lives, nothing made sense anymore. She was still struggling to even comprehend if it was real or not, though the pain in her neck and adrenaline in her veins seemed to be a pretty strong indicator. She glanced down at the strange red marking on the back of her hand; the constant reminder that reality would not go away. She could use it, surely, to bend the unclean Servant to her will, but only three times... It would be wasted here. She could only sigh, wondering where and how her life had gone so utterly, irreversibly wrong.

Those awards on her walls, the certificates she'd hung with such pride and promise... All seemed like meaningless scraps of paper in the face of this horrifying new reality. Just when she'd thought things were going so well, a flood of magic and war and death had smashed through her world like a hurricane through a stack of cards. It all seemed so small now. How she wished to be small again.

"...Bah. Ridiculous." Lancer muttered, his brow furrowed as he stared at the screen. "Guys like Thor get all the glory nowadays. And where am I? Where's my goddamn movie? Freaking humans. Knowing them, they'd probably screw it up anyways. Human stories are so biased in this era. All it takes is one moderately attractive human and..."

Seeing no other options at the time, Mikal reluctantly grabbed her coat and wallet, along with the Grimoire on her desk, which she'd copied down into a much more handy notebook. She pulled a pair of gloves on, though it wasn't particularly cold, and the hood over her head just in case. With that done, the girl slowly left with a grim look on her face, Lancer not so much as batting an eyelash at her departure.

"I wonder who they'd get to play me... Hm. Well, naturally I should play me. But shooting a movie during the war... Eh, I could do it."

And so Mikal Kitahara set out, heading down towards the Fuyuki City Shopping District. Hopefully, she could rearrange all the candy bars in the supermarket just the way she liked. That always cheered her up.

"Yes yes, I'm on my way. I just need to check out." says Nestor, dropping the call to his cellphone as he got off the plane. It would seem his package was already waiting upon his arrival. Best not to keep it waiting. After all, he'll be needing it for what was in store for him.

To think that I'd be chosen for the Holy Grail War. It's all very... interesting to say the least. he thought with a smile. He wondered what his parents would do if they found out about it. No doubt they'd want to welcome him home with opens arms, as if nothing had ever happened. Hah. That would never happen. He didn't want to go back to his pitiful excuse for a family in the first place. He was no longer their son the moment he had his own interests in mind.

He claimed his luggage from the airport's conveyor belt. Having just arrived in Fuyuki, he was glad everything was in order. No problems were encountered as he got off the plane, there were no insignificant annoyances bothering him as he went to get his luggage, and everyone minded their own business. It was the perfect arrival; No disturbances, no unexpected mishaps. He made his way to the checkout counter and finished all the necessary things he needed to do before he could finally leave the airport.

As he was just about ready to depart, he bumps into a tall, muscular man wearing a white suit and black pants. It looked like he was just about ready to head off to a formal gala. His eyes glinted with a sense of confidence as he ran his hand across his curly black hair. His other hand was in his pocket, so it looked like he was striking a pose for the sake of attracting a lady.

"Haha! That was marvelous!" laughed the man, obviously pleased about something. "These 'airplanes' as you call them are simply amazing! A phainomenon as I call it! Constructs of the gods themselves! Why... I imagine things would have been so much easier for me if I had one of those!" he says, scratching his beard.

Nestor tries to hide his anger. At the very least, the man had the common sense to change his attire before appearing in the public.

"Saber, did I not say to remain in spiritual form until I called upon you?" he says, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. To think the day started of well enough to be passable. "What did I tell you about making appearances around other people?"

The man furrows his brow as he continues to scratch his beard. He then lets out a hearty laugh, like one of a father who had just witnessed his own child make a funny mistake. "You said that someone such as myself could draw suspicious looks and curious glances from your mortal friends, so it is best that I stay hidden. But where's the fun in that? I'm a soldier, not some cowardly assassin in the shadows! Besides, I have donned the appropriate clothing to disguise myself among others." he says, spreading his arms to gesture at his fancy suit. "After all, what better place to hide than among the commoners? As long as I blend in, no one will suspect me!"

Nestor sighs, it was a persuasive argument not without logic, and one that he couldn't argue against. He takes his luggage and proceeds towards the exit. "Very well, I'll make an exception. Just try not to draw too much attention." Nestor hails a cab and promptly gets in, leaving the driver to handle his luggage. Upon taking his seat, Saber opens the passenger door and sits in the front, beside the driver.

"Ah yes, the horseless carriage you have so named as a 'car'. Fascinare." says Saber, marveling at the taxi's interior. "Wouldn't mind having one of these myself... though perhaps I can remove this ceiling. I like to feel the wind against my face."

Nestor ignores Saber as the driver enters the car, who shoots a curious look at the servant. He calls the driver's attention by snapping his fingers. "Now, I hope you don't mind if I book you for the rest of the day. Here's half your payment. You'll get the rest later tonight." He hands a thick wad of cash to the driver, whose eyes light up upon receiving the money. Thankfully he was cooperative. Nestor had feared he'd run into trouble in terms of transport in this country but as usual, enough money can solve a majority of problems.

"Now, take us to the Shopping District. I have some business to take care of there." The package was waiting for him, something from his friend here in Japan that would be of use to him. It wouldn't hurt to get some food either. He was starting get hungry after a long flight.

The driver nods and hits the gas pedal, driving the cab forward.

"Shopping? This is no time for recreation, boy!" shouts Saber from the front, nearly scaring the driver with his sudden outburst. "We have a great task ahead! Glory calls for us to claim it!"

"You do as I say and I guarantee a bottle of wine at the end of the day."

"Well what are you waiting for, driver?" snaps Saber, immediately turning his attention to the man at the wheel. "To the Shopping District! Last I checked this thing was faster than a horse! On the double!" The cab got noticeably faster, almost as if the driver was afraid the man beside him might snap his neck. To be fair, Saber did look like he was going to do that. Nestor was just thankful his servant listened to reason. Or the prospect of alcohol at the very least.

In no time at all, they found themselves at the Shopping District. Nestor gave instruction to the driver to stay in place until their return. It was decided that he and Saber would get some food before they did anything else. And by decided, it was more like Saber had persuaded him to accompany him as he browsed the shopping isles for food that would satisfy his hunger.

"A warrior with an empty belly might as well be as worthless as a dull sword! It must be sharpened in order to be of use. Thus, I must have my food!"

Before he could even react, Nestor had found himself among the isles with his servant. Seriously, it's almost as if he can't disagree with any of this man's logical arguments. But he had to admit, he was a bit hungry himself. It would seem that Saber had taken an interest to the candy isle. Or more specifically, the alcoholic chocolates that were present in it.

"Hah, looks like I won't need to wait for that wine after all, comrade!" he shouts in triumph as he holds up a small tin of wine infused chocolates. Unfortunately, the tin was actually the foundation to a curiously arranged tower of candy bars, causing the structure to collapse in the process.

Nestor takes a deep breath, channeling his thoughts of annoyance elsewhere. "Would it kill you to at least be aware of your surroundings? Look at that mess you made." Honestly, managing a servant was enough for him to reconsider even being a part of this Grail War.

I can think of no invention more terribly abused by humans than this internet. I have been on for not more than five minutes and already I feel like ripping the heads off everyone on the planet.

Lancer leaned back in the girl's flimsy computer chair, finding it surprisingly comfy. He had to give the mortal credit, she'd clearly put a lot of time into making her work space as psychotically cleanly and comfortable as possible. He wasn't sure the girl ever lifted a finger without having a landing pad set for it on the keyboard. Lancer glanced down, noticing that his sticky fingers had gummed up the keyboard and mouse through his browsing. Eh, not his problem. If the girl liked cleanliness so much, she could take care of it.

*Grumble*

"Guh..." Lancer put a hand to his stomach, a sharp pain emerging in his back. "Oh come on... Not now! I just ate... Where IS that pesky mortal?"

Just then, a knock came upon Mikal's door, and shortly after a pair of smiling adult humans entered the room, one a blue-haired female clad in a zig-zagged red and green sweater, and the other a black-haired male in a tacky pink sweater. Between them they held a warm dish with a silver cover over. Instantly, Lancer's nostrils picked up a delectable fruity scent and a pleasant heat from the dish.

"Greetings, Mr. Lancer!" The man, Mikal's father, said with a grin, "We thought that having you here just wouldn't be right if we didn't get you a hearty meal!"

"That's right," Mikal's mother chimed in with a smile, "And don't worry; we did some research, we know all about your identity and your particular diet."

Lancer raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? You humans read a couple of legends and think you know everything about me, do you?"

They did so, removing the cover with a flourish, and the Lancer's eyes widened with hunger and excitement. The Kitaharas were quite the cooks, it seemed, and the delicious tropical fruit salad had been steamed to perfection, lined with pineapples, coconuts, and passion-fruit. It was covered in a sweet and tangy sauce, had some crunchy croutons and sesame seeds dashed across, and a swirl of light, fluffy whipped cream to top it all off. The Lancer could barely control himself as he picked up the fork and quite enthusiastically dug in, the Kitaharas smiling in unison as he did so.

This is... delicious! Amazing! Well, for humans, that is. Everything's perfect, sweet, tangy, and no flesh either. This is a fantastic meal. One of these could sate me for an entire day, and I could focus on winning the tournament. Why were these humans not my Master? It seems I misjudged them. It has been quite some time... Maybe... Maybe I misjudged them a-- SON OF A ME, WHAT IS THAT

Lancer, having taken the last bite of salad off the plate, suddenly doubled over as pangs of pain shot through his body. His golden eyes flared up, as his teeth turned to razors as he reached out in vain to rip these worthless humans limb from limb. Yet the spell had already taken effect, and his arms locked into place as veins of red magic spread across his body.

"You... DARE!?" Was all he could manage, his hatred and pain nearly blinding his vision.

The Kitahara parents' smiles slowly faded, and they quickly took the dish off the desk. "Please understand, Mr. Lancer. We care very much about our daughter. Were someone to ever lay a hand upon her, we would surely never forgive them."

"And we trust you very much, Mr. Lancer," Mr. Kitahara said, his characteristic smile returning, though not in the least matching with his words, "But we did not summon you here to hurt our daughter. There will be danger enough ahead of her as it is... We wouldn't want anything to happen to her in the meantime."

"And so we just added a little extra spell to that dish," Mrs. Kitahara went on, casually tidying up the scraps of trash Lancer had left in his wake, "And bound you so that you may do no harm to anyone of the Kitahara name. So long as you hold the intent to kill, you will be unable to move. I think it will help you get along much better with our little girl."

Lancer could only gawk in pain, the anger in his own body binding him in place. The look of sheer murder in his golden eyes showed that he would not be moving anytime soon. The Kitaharas merely smiled back, and opened the door to leave.

"We look forward to having you here, Mr. Lancer," Mr. Kitahara said.

"And touch our daughter again and we will send you back from whence you came. Servant or not." Mrs. Kitahara added with an all-too cheery grin.

They were out the door, but not before Lancer could get in one last word.

"You humans... never... change."

"According to the legends, neither have you." Mr. Kitahara replied, shutting the door.

--

Fuyuki Supermarket:

Ah, the supermarket. Cool, refreshing AC, stacks and rows of shelves waiting to be organized, and plenty of groaning employees chastising you for doing their job but better. Such a place was a teenager's dream; well, any teenager that reveled in twisting all the soup cans so they all faced the same way and switching around the rows of bubblegum so each were in even rows. Mikal spent a good while simply reveling in her ability to make order from chaos, and fixing the minute flaws that no one on a minimum wage payroll cared enough to correct. She quickly found a few jumbo bags of candy while on sale, and grabbed them in her arms. Her task was technically completed, but all that awaited her at home was a horrid mess and a man only likely to make more...

...Well, while I'm here... I'm sure I can think of a plan of some sort to deal with him. Yes, I just need to clear my mind. I'll clear my mind for exactly 15 minutes, which gives me time to hit each shelf on the western side and still be home in time to clean up the mess for 10 minutes.

Yes, this was her duty, her calling; her purpose in life. To shift this bottle of soda so that the label was showing completely was not merely to move a liquid container a minute and insignificant degree. It was to give it unity, purpose, completion, so that it could stand proud and equal with its fellow bottles, a beacon of aesthetic beauty and order, a victory for logic and thought over the chaos. It was control, no matter how small, and it was beautiful. A place for everything, and everything in its place. In a time filled with such madness and misery, when her life had been utterly decimated by the revelations of her family and the arrival of her so-called Servant, Mikal at last felt some degree of sanity and security, for the first time since--

*CRASH*

...She didn't want to look. She couldn't bring herself to look. She knew just as she heard the noise what had happened, and the thought alone was almost too much to bear. But slowly, she turned anyways, her body trembling with horror. Like the Titanic or the Hindenburg, this was a disaster she could not avoid. Her eyes were drawn to the carnage as if it were a river of blood streaking through the perfect white horizon. As she turned around to look, one of the tins spiraled down and struck her on the head.

"GWUAH!" Mikal let out a cry of horror and pain as the tin struck her on the head, sending her stumbling back. In the instant of pain-induced loss of control, Mikal stumbled back, squeezing the bags of candy which promptly burst as she fell. The sweet chewy sweets exploded out around her, as if she were a pinata hitting the earth. The spray of treats may as well have been her guts as she lay upon the cold, hard tile, her body trembling and eyes frozen in utter terror. She lay shell-shocked among a rainbow of candy, wondering if she had died, here and now. She hadn't planned to die this soon. Her only regret was that she never finished updating her will.

The small underground chapel bursted into cheers as Assassin stood against a wall in the back. Watching the cult worship sickened him to the core. All Assassin could think of is his king would condemn him for not ending his false worship, The only source of hope in his heart is that the king would forgive him after winning the grail. “Lord. Why have I been placed with this evangelical cult? Surely your choice of master for me must be a test.”

“Assassin! Quit your moping and get over her!” The cults leader yelled firmly. Assassin hated being how he was answering to a man who was neither his king or his master for this war. His mind jolted back to last night after his summoning. He remembered the feminine grace of his master and being appalled to learning that he would have to rely on the commands of someone so weak looking. To make matters worse, the cult leader made it clear that he was his master’s master, and he would have to listen to this old man as well. It didn’t help that his master was submissive to the cult leader’s order. “My apologies Lord Oberon, knowing my history you should at least understand why I might be disjointed.” Assassin walked over and kneeled in front of him placing his right arm across his chest.

“It matters not, we of the True Believers are thankful to have a servant of the Holy Grail War so we can fight for humanity's salvation,” Lord Oberon spoke with an elegant touch. Assassin was disgusted at the thought of this cult getting the grail. Salvation couldn’t be achieved by a group of shady evangelists who keep their presence hidden after all. Salvation could only be achieved by the leadership of a great leader, and that is what he would do. For the sake of his own salvation, he would revive his one true king to lead this world to one who is saved by god.

“Now Assassin, your master and I went over your skills and compiled the greatest of strategies. With the strength of you and your master, victory is in our hands.”

Assassin nodded to Lord Oberon’s statement but still maintained doubts that he did not share with the cult leader. “I promise that I’ll do everything in my power to keep the young master safe and achieve victory.

“Those are words I like to hear Assassin, I truly believe you are the one meant for Dante. He’s led a troubled life, but winning this war should prove beneficial to him. Now go, your master is waiting at the gates leading out of this sacred hideaway.”

“Very well, Lord Oberon. I’ll be on my way.” Assassin disappeared into his spectral form and quickly hurried to his master then appeared in front of him.

“Oh! Assassin, you startled me!” Dante jumped in shock.

“I apologize master, I had no intention of startling you.” If his master is going to be this weak, how they gonna even hope to win the war, Assassin though. To win, he is gonna need to make sure this girlish boy doesn’t get in harms way.

“It’s fine Assassin, I’m just a little nervous and a little on guard. Lord Oberon and the rest really have a lot riding on our victory. Though… having someone so strong and handsome as you protect me puts me at ease.” Dante nustled into Assassin’s side and whispered into his ear. “Now let’s get out there and have some fun.”

Assassin was very unnerved by this gesture. “... uhm… I’d appreciate you’d not hit on me…” Never in his life did Assassin imagine that a man would come onto him, and he only had his god to look up to. This really must be a holy test meant to redeem him from his sins.

“Now I’d like to head off towards the Catherdral where the overseers resign. Perhaps that would be a good place to start.” Dante headed out the door of the cult’s hideout then turned his head back. “Hm… it might be a bad idea to leave one of your familiars here to keep an eye out. I wouldn’t want any of the other masters to find this place and kill all of my loved ones. Oh, the thought frightens me. If that were to happen I might just kill myself.”

Not that Assassin couldn’t understand Dante’s sentiments, but his utter weakness made his stomach even sicker than before. “Very well, I wouldn’t want anything to happen to my master anyways.” Assassin summoned a small bear cub familiar that then ran down into the main hall of the hideout. He then went into his spectral form and continued outside into a forest filled with orange leaves. The two headed their way to the Cathedral.

The Cathedral

Standing outside Dante and Assassin gazed upon the grand building. “You can wait out here Assassin, keep an eye out for any other masters or servants,” Dante ordered Assassin.

“Very well.” Assassin then jumped into a tree keeping in spectral form.

Dante pushed open the doors of the Cathedral. “Whyyyyy hellooooooo overseers. Hows my favorite bunch of church people! Are you feeling the excitement of this war! I’m ecstatic! Just thinking about maybe getting my wish to come true is so tantalizing!” Dante proclaimed whilst walking down the isle of the pews. “I’m sure you’re aware of all of the participants, so I assume an introduction is pointless. However! I still will do so anyways. My birth name is Dante Jeremiah, but you can call me Dante… It’s a pleasure to be in your presence.” Dante introduced while bowing.

Emily Sinnett exited the airport.If she had had any intentions of leaving the first impression that she was a respectable member of the mage society, she had given up on it five minutes ago.Now she just attracted a lot of undesired attention. Her plans had been utterly foiled by the servant currently residing on top of her shoulders.

---Five minutes ago...

"Carry me." she uttered, after materializing without permission nor warning."...What?""We need to scout out the surroundings." Rider added, like that sufficiently justified her request."Can't.... that wait? And don't just-"'Don't just materialize without permission' is what she almost wanted to say, but she hadn't discussed this with the servant yet.She didn't exactly want to limit Rider either. There had to be enough trust established between them to be able to believe the other person knew what they were doing.

"No." Rider replied, unwavering. "Can't wait. We need to be prepared.""..." Emily eyed the small girl sceptically for the first time.She didn't really want to question her servant's plan, especially not as early as this.Rider had been in actual battles before, unlike her.Still, this seemed too pointless."I'm pretty sure you can scout in spirit form just fine, no?""That's... insufficient. Not a clear view."Her servant firmly stuck with her stance."Well, you're materialized now, so...""Too small. I don't get a good view."True, she was rather small. And barefoot. In an airport.Still, Emily had a feeling her servant could have handled that just fine.People were already looking at them. It was too late.This was the moment where Emily wanted to just crouch down and hug her knees.Instead, all she could manage was a long sigh.She decided to try one final thing: Just walking away. Surely Rider wouldn't be stubborn enough to remain there.If she could at least get away from this crowded place before complying...

Rider didn't move an inch.

"Grk..." Emily clicked her tongue.Her eyes met the command seals on the back of her hand. It was tempting. More so than before.

...No. She couldn't She had resolved not to use that. It would be self-defeating... and hypocritical.

---

And so the servant got her way and was now given a piggyback ride by her master. She wasn't quite content with the height and lcimbed even higher, until she was sitting entirely on Emily's shoulders.

"Good. Good view. What is that over there? Go there."

Rider, doing her servant class justice, skillfully directed her mount around.Certainly, Emily felt less strained than she would have expected to feel from a person sitting on her shoulders. Rider felt light and seemed ot be able to easily hold her balance.

...just endure. You chose to do this, Emily. This won't make you her slave from now on.... it's going to be fine. I'm sure...

As expected, this setup attracted some gazes. They probably thought they were two sisters playing some game. There were some amused smiles.

After getting out of the airport, Rider was satisfied, but not yet willing to dismount.

"What an interesting place. These planes open paths to the entire world."

Well, even though servants received vital information about the era, it was still natural to be fascinated.

"I want one... and one of these 'cars' as well..."

Emily feared the worst, but...

"Hm... we need a camp first. A base. A... place to stay for the night and make plans. That thing."

Emily was able to agree on that. They had talked about it before, so they already had settled on a certain place.

"The shopping district should be in that direction."Emily said while pointing down a street with high buildings in the distance.

"The hotel should be nearby.""Good, good. Forward."

Feeling humiliated, Emily complied. She wasn't even blaming Rider, who was probably used to ordering people around. As long as all of this was still going in the right direction, she should be able to handle it. And thus, Rider rode Emily towards the shopping district, more into the center of the town.

Fuyuki City Hyatt Hotel

The hotel they arrived at was one of the largest building around. It could literraly be called a skyscraper compared to the rest, though there were some that looked even higher.Emily was perfectly onboard with a room in the best hotel in town, though she wasn't really sure how to keep paying for it if the war dragged on for too long.

"Don't worry, I'll find a way." had been Rider's replay. It sounded utterly irresponsible, but coming from a servant she was more willing to believe it. She was just worried what exactly that 'way' was going to be.

The receptionist appeared incredibly professional. He did not even raise an eyebrow in response to their arrival, and greeted them like this was perfectly normal."Welcome to the Fuyuki City Hyatt Hotel. How can I help you?""We want one-""One room for two. The best one you have."Rider - still on Emily's back - decided she should be the one handling this. Emily just closed her eyes and hoped for the best.

"Certainly. We have a suite on floor 22 that comes with an extra large bath, a living room with TV, and a comfortable balcony."Emily was starting to think that there was simply no way mere professionalism could enable this man to handle this with such a straight face. The only way to explain this was experience.In other words, there must be people like... the two of them all the time here. This man had definitely been in a situation like this before, or maybe even weirder ones....That may be reason for concern. Maybe this hotel was full of eccentric rich people. Though that would probably be harmless overall. Unless some of them were mages as well.

Rider had actually managed to wrap up their talk at the reception and obtain the key to the suite....Strange, Emily hadn't taken out the money from her suitcase yet, so how had Rider been able to pay?

Oh well, I can worry about that later...The flight and this experience had tired her too much to muster up much of her usual will.

RIder finally jumped off of her inside the elevator.After an awkward 15 seconds, they arrived on floor 22 and entered their suite.

"Wow..." Emily couldn't help but be impressed.Her family lived in a house of respectable size, but there had simply been much more effort put into having this place look clean and shiny. The 'bathroom' was more like a room with a swimming pool, and the balcony had actual palm trees on it as well as some beach chairs.

Rider strolled close to the golden looking balcony fence. You could see through it, but it was naturally built tall enough so there was absolutely no chance a guest could fall off. That made it look a little like very elaborate prison bars, though for Emily this felt significantly less of a prsison than her own home. You could see all the way to Fuyuki bridge and the harbor from here.

"Good. Good vantage point."Rider turned around and looked at Emily with a hint of a smile."You made the right decision".

Nestor was shaking his head. Wonderful, they haven't even properly moved into the city and already they have one casualty on their hands. Poor girl, he was so sure she had so much to live for, only to have her life taken away by the likes of a chocolate tin. Fate was truly a cruel mistress. A few passersby looked at the scene of the crime in shock, while others continued on their day as usual. Soon, the janitor came to clean the mess of rainbow candies, prodding the girl with his mop.

"No time to gaze in awe, up you go!" says Saber, snatching up the blue-haired girl from her petrified state and plopping her down away from the disorganized mess on the floor.

Nestor sighs and approaches the statue-like girl. "I apologize for my friend over here. I hope you aren't hurt as a result of his short-sightedness."

"Oh come Claus, you know how I am around alcohol!" laughs Saber, clutching his wine chocolates with pride. He pops the lid open and unwraps a piece in the middle of the isle. He takes a bite off of it, looking very satisfied with the taste. "Ah, truly a delicacy fit for a king!"

Could servants get drunk? Nestor would be at a severe disadvantage if they could. He shakes his head in disapproval. Looks like he was now forced to buy the man those expensive chocolates. To think this day had started off so well.

"Can you move, young lady? Don't tell me I have to take care of you now too." asks Nestor, directing his attention to the unfortunate girl. He needed to sort things out now if he wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.

Mikal merely stared down at the carnage she'd wrought. On a normal day she would check her schedule and see if she had time to issue a stern and long warning but today she was just too exhausted. Her need to be alive outweighed her love of order, and she merely let out a heavy sigh.

"...Well I was gonna buy it anyways..." She muttered to herself, before looking back at the two... clearly not Japanese people next to her. Huh. That was odd. I mean, most people took Mikal for a foreigner herself (or at least a really dedicated cosplayer) and yet... These two men looked like a far cry from your average citizen of Fuyuki. Tourists? Or more likely... enemies?

No, no, that's a ridiculous prejudice set up by your overactive and highly distressed mind. You need to relax.

A pathetic scene, truly. Jun was sat silently next to his father's bed, the same bed he predicted his father would stay in for the rest of his life. He found it somewhat ironic that his father, a renowned doctor, refused to be seen to by a medical professional. Instead, the old man simply stayed in his room as visitor came and left. Jun's father had no desire to see any of them, even his own wife. The only person he made visit him was Jun. The son who had so successfully grasped his trade and became such a promising heir. His only son. But as the days went by, his father had nothing left to talk about, and Jun had no reason to come up with something himself. They simply existed in pure silence. To his father, this was a moment of respite. To Jun, a chore.

. . . . .

Eventually Jun stood up. He peered expectantly at his watch, and it confirmed that he had things to attend to now. He left the book his father had asked for on the bedside table and left without a word. His father did nothing to protest, and looked to begin reading. It was like this every week. As soon as he closed the sliding door behind him, a young woman pushed herself off of the wall and clicked her tongue.

"Tch. You were in there a long time." she complained.

"Give it a few weeks and I'll never have to visit this place again."

The woman placed a firm hand on Jun's shoulder, to which he returned a sharp glare. Unfazed by this, she went on.

"There'll be no time for home visits soon, kid. Things are gonna start heating up," she licked her lips "luckily for me."

Jun sighed and brushed her hand off. "I suppose so. If you believe in your strength so much, then I don't have to worry, right?"

"Of course! Once I get started I don't lose! And just as we agreed, the master'll be all yours when I'm done!"

"...Then I have no complaints. Just- ...Do try to leave them alive. Until I win this war, dead bodies are useless."

The woman, Jun's servant, grinned proudly despite the fairly grim topic. Jun maintained a straight face as he left the mansion with her. They contrasted eachother quite strongly, but their desires coincided neatly. Was Jun's cool rational thinking going to work well with Berserker's bloodlust and hotheadedness? Time would tell. For now, they would both head back to the Hyatt Hotel, where Jun had been living for years now. It was practically his home, and also a base of operations.

Fuyuki City Hyatt Hotel

Berserker immediately crashed on the double bed in the middle of Jun's room. With a bored expression, she asked him to get her some alcohol before napping loudly, taking up a larger percentage of the bed than thought possible. Frankly, Jun wasn't very happy about this, but he had some things to sort out with hotel management anyway. Shrugging, he dropped his briefcase and left the hotel room, his new destination being the foyer. And out into the hallway he stepped.

Emily and Rider got done unpacking their things in the room.Well, that's how Emily put it in her mind, but it was actually just Emily doing all the work while Rider relaxed on the bed and occasionally strolled onto the balcony to stare off into the distance....Rider didn't exactly have her own things to unpack, so this was justified. More so than what happened earlier in the day, at least.Thanks to magic, Emily had been able to carry the suitcase with ease. Otherwise that would surely have her knocked off balance.

Tons of spare clothes and other stuff were now properly sorted away. A thing of note were several metallic objects on top of the table. Those could prove useful... but the most important thing was the item she was taking out of the suitcase now: A T-shaped object with some ornamental decorations. It would be best to always carry this with her... it truly shone in an offensive battle, but was a decent defensive tool as well.

She relaxed in her room for a while longer, recovering from the stress the flight had put on her. Sinking into the bed next to Rider, she recovered remarkably quickly."So... we're here now. This town is going to turn into a battlefield soon..."

Emily pictured herself in battle, elegantly fending off enemies... well, she knew it wouldn't really be like that. Looking over at Rider, she wondered if her chances were any good.Supposedly Saber is always the one with the best chances. This Rider didn't look that strong, though she had previously appeared rather confident about her strength... and certainly demonstrated some of it.

"We need to figure out who our enemies are soon..."

Rider - who had been lying face-down - looked up but didn't say anything.

"...I'll be outside for a bit." Emily said. She wanted to get a rough understanding of the city's infastructure.

Rider nodded. Thankfully she didn't seem in the mood to do some more of her 'scouting'."Will observe city from here."

Emily knew Rider would be able to be right there if she immediately found herself in any trouble somehow. As unlikely as that was.

---

She stepped into the hallway and immediately stopped. Why? Because she took note of a man there. Now, that by itself wouldn't be anything that would make her stop, but this particular man just struck her as... suspicious. Well, somewhat. The skulls certainly didn't help his case. On the other hand, she was aware there were fashion trends like that.Emily just looked at him and thought that he may have been part of the reason the receptionist hadn't been that impressed by their entrance.

Jun was about to head for the elevator when he felt a pair of eyes on him. He had a sort of sixth sense for this kind of thing. He turned around and faced his stalker, who happened to be a young woman. His expression displayed a brief moment of confusion, before returning to his usual stoicism.

"You lost or something, kid?" he began, looking down at the woman "Are your parents staying here...?"

Jun didn't have much reason to converse with a kid, but he also didn't have any reason to just ignore her. At least, he thought she was a kid. I mean, she looked the part.

Was she being made fun of?That certainly struck a nerve.If she had still been tired, Emily would've probably just ignored this comment. The fact he'd suddenly turned around and noticed her put her on the defensive, so she somewhat lost her temper instantly. She looked for some kind of retort. Well, the only thing about this guy that left an immediate impression were the skulls on his clothing, so...

"You seem more lost than me. Not sure what kind of demonic ritual you're trying to attend, but there's nothing like that here." she replied in a disrespectful tone.

"If you're looking for child sacrifices, I'm sorry to inform you I'm well above 18 years of age."

Somewhere deep in her mind, she scolded herself for not handling this more elegantly. Didn't change the fact she was mad right now.

"If you're an adult, act your age. What kind of adult snaps like that when a stranger makes a simple mistake? An immature one, definitely." he goes on, unfazed by the woman's comments.

His comments are followed by a slight smirk, and the air around the two suddenly begins to feel cold as a blizzard. His smile sends a terrible chill down the spine of anyone who saw it, and those who are less courageous may have turned heel and left. The smirk subsides, as if it was never to be noticed, and Jun continues.

"An adult would introduce themselves. Ishano Jun, heir to Ishano medical practices. That's my family's hospital, you might have heard of it, it's pretty famous. And what about you? Or are you going to shout at me irrationally again?"

Well, that's what you get. Well done, Emily. You managed to cause trouble after taking a mere three steps out of your room. New record?

Maybe sticking with Rider would've been the better choice. Emily got a bad feeling about this man. What he said seemed perfectly normal, but she still felt like she shouldn't let her guard down. If she wasn't somewhat confident in her self-defense skills, she would probably have run away here.

"I'm..." She really didn't want to say she was sorry. All of this reminded her of a situation she'd had with her father once. "I've had a rough day." Emily decided to settle for that instead of directly apologizing.

"My name is Emily Sinnett. I'm... just here on a trip with my... sister. We're from England, so I'm not really familiar with local hospitals."A mixture of lies and truth Emily came up with on the spot. It seemed like the easiest story to stick with, though using the name 'Sinnett' might give away she's from a mage family to anyone who looked it up.

"Erm... nice to meet you."

She was trying her best to look and sound polite even though she was slightly tense right now.

Time for us to steal those New Dawnerds' idea and use colored text for servant thoughts. Totally original.

Dark Red Italics represents the thoughts of Saber.

Well, the girl was still capable of speech. That was a good sign. However, Nestor was more concerned with the cut that had formed on her head as a result of the whole accident. He sighs and moves to remove the glove from his left hand to offer to the girl. Just as he was about to pull it off, his arm tensed, immediately stopping.

Remember, Claus. You can't just remove your glove in public now, it serves another purpose.

He exhales and fixes his glove back on. Instead, his hands go to his pocket and he takes a piece of cloth out, offering it to the girl.

"Terribly sorry about that, use this on your head while I help you out with this." he says, crouching down to pick up the candy bars littered across the floor. He glares at Saber, who was happily eating away at his chocolates. "If you can spare time to enjoy your vices, I'm sure you can spare time to assist us. Help out will you?" he scolds. Saber takes a look at the girl and the mess and then back at his chocolates. He sighs and puts them aside, proceeding to pick up the pieces of candy that exploded from the girl's hands. He seems to be grumbling.

We wouldn't even be in this mess if you had been more careful. But no, you wanted your damn chocolates. If you would have followed my schedule, then I'd already be finished here leaving you to scout the area doing whatever you wish.

Telepathic grumbling was heard from Saber. Bah, not my fault this girl was here. What is she even doing out here alone? Shouldn't kids her age be in school or something like that?

Saber brings up a good point. It was quite curious, this girl didn't seem to be with her parents or any of her friends, and it didn't look like she was just here to buy a few snacks either. Just as they were about done, Nestor asks the girl a question. "What's a young girl like yourself doing out here all alone? Shouldn't you be in school or the like?"